The invention relates to a system for monitoring vehicles on the highway. In particular, the invention relates to a vehicle safety monitoring system that is easily retrofitted to commercial transport carriers and capable of providing a view of areas adjacent the transport carrier commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cblind spots.xe2x80x9d
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9ccommercial transport carrierxe2x80x9d will refer to the tractor and trailer combination of vehicle commonly seen on the highways and used to transport commercial goods. Further, the term xe2x80x9ctractorxe2x80x9d will refer to the cab and engine portion of the vehicle and the term xe2x80x9ctrailerxe2x80x9d will refer to the detachable portion of the vehicle used for hauling goods.
In the United States, there are approximately 1.5 million registered tractors used for hauling trailers containing commercial goods. Studies indicate that there are 250,000 accidents each year involving tractors and/or trailers (or commercial transport carriers). Furthermore, 60% (or 150,000) of all reported accidents involved the right side or xe2x80x9cblind spotxe2x80x9d of the tractor. The accident rate involving the blind spot of commercial transport carriers has become so alarming that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration launched the xe2x80x9cNo-Zone Campaignxe2x80x9d, a public awareness effort to promote safer driving near large commercial transport carriers. No-zones define the blind spots around large trucks that prevent the drivers from seeing other vehicles. Understandably, collisions with commercial transport carriers are most likely to occur in these blind spots.
Several existing monitoring systems provide drivers of commercial transport carriers with a view of the no-zone. For example, one system includes a passive infrared (IR) detector affixed to the right side of the tractor or trailer that provides a warning (audible or visual) to transport carrier drivers when a vehicle is in the no-zone. Nevertheless, the equipment used in this system is expensive and the installation oftentimes requires extensive delays. Furthermore, the equipment utilized in the passive IR system requires frequent maintenance. Thus, existing monitoring systems not only require trucking companies to invest large sums of money to purchase equipment, but also require repeated maintenance. This downtime translates into a shortage of commercial transport carriers available for use in hauling goods.
Less expensive devices for viewing the no-zone include convex mirrors attached to the right side of the tractor. Convex mirrors, however, distort the driver""s view, hence the phrase xe2x80x9cobjects in mirror are closer than they appearxe2x80x9d depicted on the face of these mirrors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,200 to Petrossian, et al. describes a remotely operated apparatus housed within the frame of a vehicle for viewing traffic to the rear and sides of the modified vehicle. More specifically, the ""200 patent discloses video cameras positioned on both sides of the vehicle, housings for affixing the cameras within the vehicle frame, an actuator for extending and retracting the camera out of and into the housing, and cathode ray tube (CRT) video display terminals mounted in the interior of the vehicle. The actuator promotes horizontal movement of the cameras out of and into the housing. Nevertheless, Petrossian fails to provide an apparatus that can be easily retrofitted to existing vehicles. For example, the apparatus fails to take advantage of existing rear-view mirror mounts (i.e., mirror framework). Rather, the apparatus requires the structural modification of an existing vehicle to provide an internal cavity for housing the cameras. The structural modifications necessary for implementation of the ""200 apparatus require that the transport carrier be taken out of service. The downtime delays the transporting of goods and costs the transport provider thousands of dollars. Therefore, the ""200 apparatus is impractical for companies owning a large fleet of commercial transport carriers.
In comparison, the present invention does not require an internal cavity for housing the camera and utilizes the standard rear-view mirror framework present on the majority of transport carriers. The ease with which the present invention can be retrofitted provides an economically viable option for owners of large fleets of transport carriers. Simply stated, the present invention is easier to install and maintain (i.e., no structural modification and minimal downtime to retrofit).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,308 to Rosinski, et al. discloses a vehicular monitoring system that includes a video display integrated into a rear-view mirror that is capable of displaying various fields of view. Unfortunately, Rosinski requires an elaborate control box (i.e., central processing unit or CPU) for controlling the functions of multiple cameras, mechanical shutters, a recording device, camera scanning functions, and split screen displays. In a preferred embodiment of the ""308 patent, the video display is mounted within a side-view mirror located on the exterior of the vehicle. Accordingly, Rosinski fails to disclose an apparatus that can be easily retrofitted to an existing commercial transport carrier without structurally modifying the transport carrier. Further, the elaborate configuration (e.g., CPU, scannable cameras, etc.) likely reduces equipment reliability and requires extensive maintenance.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a low-maintenance monitoring system that can be easily retrofitted to existing commercial transport carriers.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a monitoring system that provides visual verification of areas adjacent a commercial transport carrier (i.e., blind spots).
A further object of the invention is to increase the manufacturing efficiencies associated with retrofitting monitoring systems to existing commercial transport carriers.
Yet another object of the invention is to enhance the driver""s ability to quickly scan no-zones by viewing a dashboard mounted monitor that provides a rear-view mirror image of blind spots.
The invention meets these objectives with a monitoring system that is easily retrofitted onto existing commercial transport carriers, thereby reducing structural modifications to transport carriers. In particular, the invention is a vehicle monitoring system having a camera mounted on standard rear-view mirror framework, a monitor for providing a rear-view mirror image of adjacent areas that is positioned adjacent the driver, and a conduit for delivering the image from the camera to the monitor.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention and the manner in which the same are accomplished will become clearer based on the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: